1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a griller, more particularly to a griller that permits setting of both the cooking temperature and the cooking time.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional steak griller has a pair of cooking grill members that are configured to confine a cooking space for receiving a piece of steak therein when the cooking grill members are closed together. When electric power is supplied to electric heaters of the cooking grill members, the temperature in the cooking space will rise to a preset cooking temperature and will be maintained thereat for cooking the steak piece.
A main drawback of the aforesaid conventional steak griller resides in that the user has to monitor the cooking time so that the steak piece can be cooked as desired.
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a griller that permits setting of both the cooking temperature and the cooking time so as to overcome the aforesaid drawback of the prior art.
According to the present invention, a griller comprises upper and lower cooking grill members, an electric heater unit, and a control circuit.
The upper and lower cooking grill members are coupled to each other and are configured to confine a cooking space when closed together. The cooking space is adapted to receive a piece of steak therein.
The electric heater unit is associated with the upper and lower cooking grill members and is operable so as to heat and cook the piece of steak in the cooking space.
The control circuit is connected to the electric heater unit and controls heating operation of the electric heater unit. The control circuit includes a heater controller, a sensor unit, a user input unit, a processor unit, and an alarm unit.
The heater controller is connected to the electric heater unit and is adapted to be connected to a power supply. The heater controller is operable so as control supply of electric power to the electric heater unit.
The sensor unit is adapted to detect cooking temperature in the cooking space and to generate a sensor output corresponding to the cooking temperature detected thereby.
The user input unit is operable so as to provide a cooking temperature setting and a cooking time setting.
The processor unit is connected to the heater controller, the sensor unit and the user input unit. The processor unit controls operation of the heater controller in accordance with the sensor output from the sensor unit and the cooking temperature setting from the user input unit, and generates an alarm activate signal upon detection by the processor unit that a predetermined time period corresponding to the cooking time setting from the user input unit has elapsed since the start of the supply of the electric power to the electric heater unit.
The alarm unit is connected to the processor unit and is activated by the alarm activate signal for generating an alarm output.